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Hi Neil, Interesting data. What speed were the RSL shuttles? And, what kind of scale did you use to weigh them? Have you played w/ them yet, if so how was the speed relative to the weights you measured? Thx.

thanks for the survey neil. I got a low range dig. scale too (0-100g, +/- .01g) but haven't took the time to weighs shuttles. As i have mentioned before, yonex AS's is most consistent (lowest std dev.) for its respective grade but u do pay a bit more for them. In feather, consistency does not necessary equates to durability (as alluded by Neil as well), where as in plastic, it's usually does.

Mavis 350 white Slow speed (opened tube, not all came from the same tube, as i recall, some came from older tubes previously)
5.08
4.99
4.97
5.02
5.02
4.91
AVG 4.998333333g
mm range 0.17g
std dev. 0.057067212 (even from different vintage or batch, the standard deviation is still at or slightly lower than those seen in feather shuttles from the same tube)

it seem mavis 350 (and 370) generally weigh more than mavis 300. This support my experience that mavis 350/370 flies faster than mavis 300 of the same SLOW speed grade, and why mavis 300 is more commonly used than mavis 350/370 beside price factor.

additions to the file as I found an old piece of paper with some measurements of AS-20, AS-40, Blue Bird (really nasty) and QangLi shuttles.

From this small sample it seems Yonex try to keep fairly similar weights across different feather types and speeds. I'll try to remember to get RSl No.1 and Ashaway Gold next time to see if other manufacturers do also.

But then, do all the shuttles come from the same place anyway?
Do Yonex, Ashaway, etc. just buy different grades of shuttle from the same supplier or do they have their own processes?

additions to the file as I found an old piece of paper with some measurements of AS-20, AS-40, Blue Bird (really nasty) and QangLi shuttles.

From this small sample it seems Yonex try to keep fairly similar weights across different feather types and speeds. I'll try to remember to get RSl No.1 and Ashaway Gold next time to see if other manufacturers do also.

But then, do all the shuttles come from the same place anyway?
Do Yonex, Ashaway, etc. just buy different grades of shuttle from the same supplier or do they have their own processes?

Interesting read.. Maybe you could get a scale that measures more granulary than 0,1g as well, would make the comparisons even more accurate

But I am abit puzzled why the Yonex speed 2 and speed 3 shuttles seem to have the same weight???

Speed:
When testing speed, RSL and Ashaway were similar, Yonex a little faster, but all were pretty close.
In play, they were all fairly similar. There were differences but I can't quite put my finger on them.

Durabillity:
The Ashaway feathers were quite durable but the spines went a bit soft so the shuttle eventually lost it's round shape more often than feathers breaking.
RSL spines were OK but the feathers seemed to break faster.
Yonex tended to have spines breaking before feathers broke.

Consistency:
All about the same.

Conclusion (from fairly small sample so far)
I don't think the AS-30 are worth 25% more than the Ashaway Black
Jury still out on the RSL, I didn't use enough of them.

Weight and mass aren't the best indicator of the feather shuttle's temperature range. Each has to be tested by a rotating squash racket. At a given temperature and humidity level, the distance and stability of the feather shuttle is then used to judge the temperature range. In short, I speculate a more accurate rating is the use of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 instead of grains and grams.

Weight and mass aren't the best indicator of the feather shuttle's temperature range. Each has to be tested by a rotating squash racket. At a given temperature and humidity level, the distance and stability of the feather shuttle is then used to judge the temperature range. In short, I speculate a more accurate rating is the use of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 instead of grains and grams.

it does show the consistency of that manufacturer.
it's still better to and have consistenct weight and speed together.

natural material like feathers are of course slightly different, therefore rigourous testing is the only way to sort out which shuttles fly at right speed & spin. the overal weight is just a part of the equation.

I am however quite disturbed by the variance and weight of Mavis 350...

Spanning from 4,91 to 5.08 in the same batch, for an artifical shuttle doesnt seem to be a very precise manufacturing process. keep in mind there are no flight testing of these kind of shuttles for selected qualities.